19th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
3-12 March, 2017
DIRECTORS’ QUOTES OF THE DAY
Wednesday March 8, 2017
3-12 March, 2017
DIRECTORS’ QUOTES OF THE DAY
Wednesday March 8, 2017
The Greek and foreign directors who attend this year’s edition talk about their films which are screened today at the 19th TDF:
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception And The Spirit Of I. F. Stone by Fred Peabody
“There’s an expression that good journalism should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. It made me think of I.F. Stone… I wanted to tell the story of these passionate independent journalists, past and present, to bring the public into their worlds, and to tell the story of this band of “muckrakers” from my own perspective. As a former investigative producer on the CBC program "the fifth estate" and on ABC's "20/20", I know how difficult it can be to uncover deception and reveal truths”.
Santoalla by Andrew Becker & Daniel Mehrer
“The setting, cast of characters and mystery, it all seemed too strange to be real. We initially worked on a fictional script before deciding to film it as a documentary. That being said, the conclusion to this film was ultimately more tragic than anything we could have written”.
Shingal, Where Are You? by Angelos Rallis
"What urged me to deal with the tragedy of the religious minority of the Yezidi was the fact that I identified in these events some similarities with the topic of my previous documentary A Place for everyone, the focus of which was the genocide of a tribe in Rwanda. My original plan was to do a trilogy based on post-traumatic behavior. Therefore, when I was informed by the media about the Yezidi’s drama, I felt that this was a story I wanted to record”.
The First Supper – The Journey of Food: The History of Food from Prehistory to Today by Nikos Dayandas, Lefteris Haritos, Andreas Apostolidis and Yuri Averof
"We talk a lot about the Greek culture and admire its great accomplishments, but we don’t realize how all these are related to food. From our part, through our documentaries, we found out that all these important things start from the relationship that Greeks share with food. Cultures that impress us all, such as the Minoan and Mycenaean, flourished by transforming the need to be fed into a driving force of development. Given this, our film presents an alternative history of Greece”.
To Another Life by Laurent Laughlin
"Refugees are often bunched in together as a mass exodus fleeing war, economic strife or political persecution. We don't always look at the personal hardship an individual faces when leaving family, country, friends and habit behind them. In the case of Zeinah her sexuality was an added cause to free herself from the bonds of intolerant bullies and come out to the world, but that oppression continued even after reaching Europe through her fellow refugees. Zeinah’s extraordinary resilience and courage persevered and she stood her ground when faced with that intolerance, I hope my film mirrors that strength".
Transitioning: Transgender Children by Roser Oliver i Olivella & Lluis Montserrat i Satorre
“I am sure that the viewer will be struck by the courage, sincerity and maturity of these transsexual boys and girls speaking to the camera about their identity. I hope their testimony makes us more aware of human diversity and dispels the prejudices against transsexual people still held by many in society”.
Yannis Kastritsis: The Man and His Shadow by Dimitris Koutsiabasakos
“The special features of the artistic personality of Yannis Kastritsis are the place of his origin, nature and man. These elements of locality become universal in his work. I think that this is what we have to pay attention to, these days: to maintain our position in this world, accepting what we are. The only way to stay alive is to stop being afraid of what we are and fully accept it”.
